Taming the “Wild West” of Mobile Health Apps

Taming the “Wild West” of Mobile Health Apps Happitique’s App Certification ProgramClick Here for Additional Resources

A conversation with Ben Chodor, CEO of Happitique (see Bio), about his company’s standards that it will be using to certify medical, health, and fitness apps under Happtique’s App Certification Program.

Aired LIVE on: Tuesday, October 2, 2012

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Background

“There are tens of thousands of medical, health and fitness apps on the market and their sheer number makes it difficult for health care professionals and consumers to locate apps that operate reliably, are based on valid information, and safeguard users’ information,” said Happtique CEO Ben Chodor. “Happtique’s App Certification Program will address an important need in the mHealth field by evaluating apps along these dimensions. We believe the certification process will lead to the identification of truly high quality apps, thereby giving health care professionals and consumers alike the confidence they need in the apps they are recommending or using.”

Happtique is a mobile health application store and app management solution that helps healthcare providers, physicians, and patients easily integrate mHealth into treatment. It offers medical enterprises — like hospitals, continuing care facilities, and physician practices — the ability to create individually branded, secure, multi-platform application stores for staff and patient use. Happtique is a subsidiary of GNYHA Ventures, Inc., the business arm of the Greater New York Hospital Association.

Questions/Topics Discussed

• Why is there a need for Happitique to develop these standards and the App Certification Program?
• Tell us about the process for developing these standard? Who was involved? How long did it take?
• Please give us a top level review of the standards and how the App Certification Program will work?
• Should physician-focused apps developed by pharmaceutical companies be certified by your program? What about health apps for consumers?
• What’s the role of the FDA in the certification of medical apps?
• You are accepting public comments regarding the standards. Can you share with us some of the comments you have received?
• What are some of the other projects that you are working on related to health apps?

Guest Bios

Ben Choder is the CEO of Happtique and the host of mHealth Zone, a weekly radio show that offers the latest on mHealth apps and technology. Ben is also a mentor for Blueprint Health, a startup accelerator based in NYC. Ben is a pioneer in online communications, having spent his 25-year career merging the healthcare, pharmaceutical, and technology fields. Prior to Happtique, he served as Global Head of Streaming & Virtual Events at InterCall. He also founded Stream57 in 2004 and sold the company to InterCall in January 2010.

Additional Resources

• FDA Mobile Regulatory Fear Mongering by PhRMA
• Be Aware of What’s Behind a Pharma Mobile App: Disclaimers Only Tell Part of the Story
• FDA Issues Long-Awaited Guidance – for Mobile Medical Apps
• The Problem with Unregulated “Calculator” Apps for Physicians: Buggy Software!
• Some Unregulated Physician Smartphone Apps May Be Buggy